In its 18^th year, the event is about providing gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer people and the general community with cultural and artistic opportunities.

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Committee member Chris Butler said this year the festival would take place in winter over the July 15 to 17 weekend.

"For two years now we've had successful competitions and had lots of lovely films to watch from all over the world including Australia," he said.

"We wanted to make it a place where people could express themselves in a safe environment. We often get people sending in films for the first time or something that hasn't been seen in Australia before, so it's nice to get that variety.

"We thought it would be a good idea to have the film festival in July, partly because I wanted to have more than one celebration of the LGBTIQ+ community a year.

"We also wanted to relaunch the event this year after a few years of not being able to put on the event we've wanted to."

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Mr Butler said it was important to be able to bring people together particularly after the last two years.

"With COVID-19, a lot of people have obviously been doing things online now so we want to have an event where people can come together in-person and watch the films on the big screen, the way they're meant to be watched," he said.

"A lot of the overseas entrants were so excited when I said we were having an event because they haven't been able to do it for months."

Mr Butler said it wasn't necessarily about the creators being part of the LGBTIQ+ community.

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"They all sort of have to be queer-oriented or at least by queer artists," he said.

"So sometimes their subject matter isn't necessarily about the LGBTQI+ community, but often the person involved is the member of that community.

"Bendigo is a lovely place to live, but if you're from a smaller community group, it can be a little bit lonely or disconnected so this is another way you can reach out and share things with people."

The films will be shown at the Engine Room and tickets and more information can be found online at bendigoqueerfilmfestival.com.au

If you would like to enter your film, you can do so online at filmfreeway.com/BendigoQueerFilmFestival

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